One of the problems of travelling by train is that there isn’t a lot of time to take pictures of them. We must have covered about 250km on rails over the weekend, but I rarely managed to get near anything interesting. Mind you, it was worth it to see some very good friends getting married.
I did have a few moments on the railway station in Tübingen, and as an added plus we got try out some of the new trains that DB have started running to the city. Actually, that’s a bit of an exaggeration: as far as I could see most of the coaches are the same but the older driving coach has been replaced by this more modern version, which is quite an impressive unit.
German platforms are often barely above track level so steep steps are a real pain if you have a buggy. The new coaches have the entrances between the wheel sets, which enables them to be down near platform level and provide almost step-free access to the train (Which is a great improvement on the older coaches). They also have a slightly different interior to the older ones with cool blue lighting angled along the luggage racks. They look pretty smart and I imagine help add to the lighting without taking away headroom on the upper deck. The view is great from up here, and the coaches are really fun on scenic lines, but I wish DB would let us open the windows: on older units about every third window can be opened a tiny bit to let some air in, but now they seem to rely on air conditioning which is fine as long as it works, but could turn the upper decks into a rolling greenhouse if (when) it fails.
Overall, though, these are really impressive coaches: easy access, plenty of luggage space, and with windows usually aligned with seats. A pity that after all this, the station at Tübingen has no lifts (why on earth can’t the main station in one of Germany’s major university and tourist cities have a lift?) so we had to carry the buggy up several sets of stairs, but you can’t have everything.
I was able to get some more pictures of Tübingen, so we will come back to this. In the meantime I am, hopefully going to get some more done on the railcar…
(I’m trying out a new layout with smaller pictures- If you click on one you’ll get to the big version)
Some time in late 1990s I traveled from Texas to Missouri on Amtrak in cars with no opening windows except as emergency exits.
Nice trip overall.
Stale musty air in the cars.
Cars were in serious need of being parked for a day or more with all the windows open!
Knowing full well that was not possible, but hoping to make a point, I called Amtrak customer service and played ignorant hick suggesting that.
Now, open windows at 79mph would be a bit of a danger.
There does need to be much greater fresh air exchange, though.
Hello Forrest…
The windows on the older Double Deck cars opened only a tiny bit- not quite enough to drop a beer bottle through, but just enough to allow air exchange. I have no idea why DB can’t do the same with these…